


No Time For Dreams

by What_Happens_To_The_Heart



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Episode: c01e024 The Feast, Gen, Nightmares, Percival "Percy" de Rolo III Angst, Percy has a nightmare, Revenge, considering this a deleted scene, the Briarwoods - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:26:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26865871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/What_Happens_To_The_Heart/pseuds/What_Happens_To_The_Heart
Summary: Percy has a nightmare...
Relationships: Percival "Percy" Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III & Vox Machina
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	No Time For Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting in my Scrivener for far too long, and I finally finished it. Fun note: I drafted this before I actually knew about Cassandra! Clearly I have really context-specific psychic powers.

He wasn’t supposed to be there. He wasn’t supposed to be here. At the moment, that seemed to be the only thing that Percy knew for sure.

The forest smelled of mist and moss. Tall, thin trees jutted from the meager underbrush, rising toward the sky straight as nails, their bark paled to a dull gray. High up, wiry branches stuck out, covered in the same prickly needles that crunched underfoot. It was not day, and it was not night. Little light made its way down to the forest floor from the gray sky above, and mist weaved back and forth between the tree trunks like smoke.

Something was wrong.

It wasn’t the forest itself. It wasn’t the silence that blanketed it, or the smell of sulfur on the air. It wasn’t even the fact that no-one else in his party seemed to notice that something was off, that they all walked along with no more than the usual tension of exploration in their movements. It was him. He was what was wrong. He wasn’t supposed to be there.

“Back me up on this, Percy!”

Percy started, almost tripping as he turned towards the voice behind him only to find Scanlan and Grog walking alongside one another, looking at him expectantly.

“What?” Had they been talking this whole time? He hadn’t heard a word.

“Are you, uh, all right?” Grog asked, his large brow furrowing momentarily.

“Yes,” Percy replied flatly. “I’m fine.”

Scanlan raised an eyebrow, then looked up at Grog. They both shrugged, turning their attention forward again as Scanlan continued talking. “Anyway, all I’m saying is if you want a lady to think you’re sophisticated, I mean a really refined gentleman of the world, then you…”

The words faded away, and Percy realized absently that he had stopped, that his friends had passed him by and were continuing deeper into the forest. He scanned the trees around him, though he couldn’t see far before the fog swallowed them up. Where were they? More importantly, what were they doing here? He swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry as he realized he had no memory at all of setting off on this trek, no idea where they were going or why. He only knew he was meant to be… where? More fog, more questions.

He willed his feet into moving again, hurrying his steps to catch up with the group. This didn’t seem like the sort of forest one wanted to get lost in. Once he had fallen into step behind Scanlan and Grog, he peered up ahead of them. The group was walking in single file, the two in front of him being the exception. They all seemed to know where they were headed, walking as arrow-straight as the trees would allow. Vex was up in front, Trinket lumbering just behind her. The bear’s new armor groaned as metal rubbed over metal; they obviously weren’t trying to sneak up on anything. Keyleth came next, a second pair of light half-elven feet across the uneven forest floor, followed by Tiberius with Lockheed perched on his shoulder. Grog and Scanlan were still engaged in conversation, Percy now behind them and bringing up the rear of the group. Vax was… well, wherever he was, Percy couldn’t see him.

He wasn’t supposed to be there. The feeling surged, not returning so much as swelling. Where was he supposed to be? Dread began brewing inside him. Was he losing his mind, or just his memory? He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer, wasn’t sure if he wanted to ask his friends. He watched them, all striding forward with a relaxed sense of purpose. What would they think if they knew he didn't know where they were going or why?

A sound behind him, and Percy turned just in time to see Vax materializing out of the mist, falling into step beside him. "I know this didn’t turn out how you wanted,” Vax said, his silver voice low and gentle. “I promise, when this is over we will help you get them for what they did to your family.”

For a moment, the world fell away and Percy suddenly knew exactly where he was supposed to be. Though he was still walking, he could no longer feel himself move and Vax's voice sounded miles away as he continued. "We just need to do this first... I hope you know we all appreciate how understanding you're being." Vax put a hand on Percy's shoulder, and the world resumed spinning with a sickening lurch. The half-elf's face was painted with sincerity, which somehow made it worse.

So he had agreed to this, somehow... He could neither understand nor remember why. Why had he left Emon when he finally had them within arm's reach? The question died on his lips and he shrugged vaguely in response to Vax's speech. Better to say nothing than admit he couldn’t remember any of this. Vax nodded his appreciation and turned away, Percy watching him as he passed by the others to join his sister in the fore of the group.

Percy trudged on, watching his friends as they moved in front of him. Whatever his reason for coming, it still stung that his friends had so easily found something more important to do. What trinket or treasure could compare to that dinner? What monster could compare to his monsters?

The rain started as a whisper in the trees and a vague dampness in the air. Then, as if it thought it had given them ample warning, the sky opened up and within moments they were all soaked. The downpour drove away the fog and reduce the smells of the forest to the scent of wet soil.

"We need to get to shelter!" Someone called. "We’ll continue searching tomorrow!" Their gait had quickened with the onset of the rain, and now they broke into a jog. 

"Where?" He recognized Keyleth’s voice over the din of the downpour. "There's no place to go!"

"Let's keep moving! I'll scout ahead!"

"Careful, brother!"

All Percy could see was rain and trees, trees and rain, and vague figures in front he could barely keep up with. It seemed as though the forest was set on going on forever. 

"There's a house!" Vax's voice tore through the smattering of rain and feet after what could've been five minutes or five hours of running. "A farmstead or something. Looks like someone's home!"

"Lead the way!"

The course changed, following Vax, and soon enough the house came to view. It was a decently sized house, one made for a large family, and though all the shutters were closed smoke rose from the chimney and light spilled from behind a few of the shutters. 

"What do we do?" Scanlan asked.

"Someone's probably home, do we just go in?" Keyleth suggested, sounding unconvinced.

"Maybe…" he replied, glancing between Tiberius and Grog. "Maybe it's better if we don't all go barging in at once. We probably shouldn't freak them out."

"Good point!" Vex agreed before anybody could object. "Keyleth and I will go. We'll call for you if anything happens."

The two women walked off, Scanlan following behind them saying something about how they could use someone with his charisma too in case whoever lived there didn't want to share the roof. The others waited, huddled together underneath a tree which provided only very little shelter. Trinket groaned discontentedly as he watched his mommy knock on the door and disappear inside.

After a few moments the front door opened again and Vex's face appeared in the doorway once more. "Come on in! They said we can stay the night, so long as we don't make a mess!"

They headed toward the house, Tiberius taking the lead in order to get out of the rain and mud. Just inside the door he stopped, Percy nearly collided with the sorcerer's back as he took a moment to prestidigitate his robes clean. When Tiberius moved on, the bulk of a bear body shouldered past Percy, followed by the thundering steps of a barbarian, Grog's big feet splashing up swathes of mud onto Percy's coat.

"Are you kidding? Have I gone invisible and lost my memory?" Percy grumbled as he finally shifted inside, closing the door. The rest of the group had already moved from the dark little hallway and in through a door on the right. He could see from the doorway a fire was burning inside, and as he entered he found a well-kept kitchen, now very crowded with a group of adventurers and their bear. "Excuse me," Percy said, shuffling past somebody to get out of the doorway and into the room proper, inching closer to the fireplace. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. At the other side of the kitchen, by a side table, there stood a young woman. He recognized her even from behind. He knew the curves of her hair, the way that she carried herself. For a moment, time seemed to stand still.

She turned and saw him. The pitcher she was holding slipped from her hand, a cascade of red wine spilling from it as it hit the floor. The room fell silent, and for a moment they saw only each other. He could not speak, could find no words, and her voice was scarcely more than a whisper.

"Percy?"

* * *

Percy woke to darkness and silence, Greyskull Keep still in the depths of sleep. The room was hot, the air too stale to properly catch his breath. The details of his dream scuttled off into the night, leaving only one thing behind. Cassandra…

He could still feel his sister’s arms around his neck, still hear her voice as she told him how she had missed him. How, just like him, she had wondered if she was the only one left. She'd looked just as she did before it all, before the arrows and the river. Before the Briarwoods. That in itself made the dream feel not like a mirage, but like a lie. Even if she somehow had lived, she would have been forever changed. Just like him…

He kicked aside his blanket with impatience. Lately, his dreams had been all blood and smoke and darkness, but this was worse.

He got out of bed, crossing the floor to the window to let the night air in. The chill chased away the last remnants of sleep, but did nothing to soothe his mind. Tears stung cold on his cheeks in the breeze, and he wiped them off before turning to face his room. The feast was tonight and nothing would make it come sooner, or later. The only thing to do was wait, the only way to wait to keep busy.

He stepped over to the desk, which was covered in scraps of papers and blueprints and sketches. The glove sat at the edge of the desk, all metal and wires and potential. Diplomacy worked, but it wasn't quite as effective as he would like. Oh well, there was time enough to fix that.

For a moment he saw their faces, contorted in pain as waves of lightning ripped through them. He sighed, finally tearing his gaze away from the glove. He didn't know what he would do when he saw them. At least, that's what he kept telling himself...

Pulling out his chair, he pushed the tangle of papers to the side and pulled a clean, white sheet from the stack. Charcoal stained his fingertips as he began to sketch on ways to improve his newest invention.

There was no time for dreams now.


End file.
